


Claim to Flame

by AshTheWraith



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Azula & Zuko (Avatar) Have a Good Relationship, Azula (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Azula (Avatar)-centric, Azula Joins the Gaang (Avatar), Azula and Sokka bromance, Azula plays the drums, Because Ozai's in it, Big Brother Sokka (Avatar), Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gaang (Avatar), Happy Azula (Avatar), Mental Health Issues, Other, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Protective Gaang (Avatar), Protective Sokka (Avatar), Ursa (Avatar) is a Good Parent, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, and it's cool
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29263506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshTheWraith/pseuds/AshTheWraith
Summary: “Drumming. That’s your plan?” Azula said sceptically, as she stared quizzically at the drum kit in the run-down music centre near the group home. “I think I prefer hitting people around the head with sticks.”“Well instead of hitting people, you can hit drums. I promise you that you’ll like it.” Piandao said. Azula sighed.orAzula is abandoned by her whole family but she manages finds a new one.
Relationships: Azula & Mai (Avatar), Azula & Sokka (Avatar), Azula & The Gaang (Avatar), Azula & Ty Lee (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 48
Kudos: 111





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> TW for suicide and child abuse.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

Azula remembered the day she clearly realised for the first time that her Dad didn’t behave like Dads were supposed to. She had been doing homework in the kitchen, clicking her pen to the beat of the clock ticking, when her father stormed in. He was clearly in a bad mood; his eyebrows were furrowed, and his shoulders were stiff; both clear signs that you should leave him alone and avoid him like the plague. Azula noticed him flexing his hands and winced. She hoped that her brother wasn’t too badly hurt. 

“Are you concentrating, Azula?” her father asked. She nodded silently, her lips glued shut. She was scared to speak. 

“Answer me.”

“Yes, father.” she said shakily. Her father grabbed her hand and she jerked away, looking up at him, terrified. 

“Don’t mumble. And sit up straight.” her father ordered. Azula hurriedly adjusted her position.

“Sorry, father.” she said, much more clearly. Her father pulled her exercise book from her and scanned the page. 

“This one’s wrong. Do it again.” he demanded. Azula nodded shakily and quickly redid the question as Ozai walked over to the fridge and grabbed a six pack of beer. “I can’t believe I raised such a stupid child.” he muttered as he left the room. 

An hour later, Ozai stumbled in, clearly drunk. Azula scrunched up her nose, and pulled her books to her chest as she tried to leave. She knew that when Ozai was drunk, he was likely to hurt her, and a 7 year old girl could not protect herself from her dad. But before she could leave, Ozai pulled her round by her shoulder and sneered. 

“Where are you running to, kid? Did you finish your homework?” he slurred. Azula nodded, and her head snapped to the right as she was slapped by Ozai. “Answer me, you little shit.”

“Yes, father.” she said, her voice high and scared. But Ozai wasn’t satisfied with her answer. He pushed her over and she landed hard on the ground. He kicked her several times in the stomach in his drunken rage. Azula cried and whimpered as his shoe thundered into her torso like a bullet, each time hurting more than the last. And that was the moment that she realised that most families aren’t like this. She had always known on a subconscious level that what her father did to her, Zuko and Mum was bad but that was the first time that she had such a vivid epiphany: this wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

o0o

Zuko realised the same thing when he was 9. Him and Mai had been running around the house, playing hide and seek. Zuko was trying to find Mai, who was hiding in the cupboard in the corner of his room, though he wasn’t aware of that of course. He ducked under the table and then searched behind the curtains. Finally, he thought to open the wardrobe door, and Mai fell out as soon as he did so. 

“Ha! I found you!” he grinned. Mai stood up. 

“This is fun. Can we play again.” she said. But as Mai went to go count, she hit the table with her elbow and a vase toppled over, smashing against the floor, shards of glass flying everywhere. The both froze. 

“Leave, now.” Zuko said quickly. 

“I didn’t mean to!” Mai said. Zuko rolled his eyes.

“I know, but if my dad finds out, he’ll be really angry. Get out of here while you can.” he hissed. Mai nodded and sprinted out of the house, confused as to why her friend would be so panicked about an accident. She disappeared around the corner as Ozai’s footprints echoed through the otherwise silent house. 

“Zuko! What was that sound?” he called as he walked through the door into Zuko’s room. Zuko swallowed. Lying would just make it worse. 

“I smashed the vase. I’m sorry, father.” he said carefully. “I’ll pay for a replacement, I promise I…” but he couldn’t finish his sentence, because Ozai’s hand collided with his cheekbone hard, and he dropped to his knees slightly, gingerly touching the bright red mark imprinted on his face.

“How could you be so IRRESPONSIBLE?!” Ozai bellowed, so loudly Zuko swore that his brain shattered. 

“I’m so sorry, dad.” Zuko said. Ozai growled and left, slamming the door behind him. Mai crept out from the wardrobe. “I told you to leave.” Zuko sniffed. 

“I wanted to make sure that you didn’t die.” Mai said. “Why don’t you call the police?”

“It’s not that simple. He can hurt us even more badly. Mum says he’s a powerful man and we shouldn’t get on the wrong side of him. Though it seems like we’re on the wrong side already,” Zuko muttered, stumbling to his feet. “Don’t your parents hit you?”

“No, of course they don’t.” Mai said. 

“Oh.”

o0o

“Found you!” Ursa laughed as she crouched down to look under the table. Azula laughed and crawled out from under.

“Now your turn to hide!” she said. 

“I want to count!” Zuko said. Azula stuck her tongue out.

“Well, it’s my turn.” she said. Zuko crossed his arms and scowled. 

“Okay, let’s calm down. Azula, you count this time, and Zuko can count after.” Ursa said. Reluctantly, Zuko nodded and ran to hide with Ursa as Azula counted. 

After a few more gos and rounds of counting and hiding, Ursa decided that it was a nice warm day, and that they should go out and get ice cream. Ozai was out at the office, so he couldn’t stop them. Zuko asked for double chocolate, and Azula asked for mint. They sat on the bench in the park and played eyespy. 

The siblings were pleased that their mother was so happy and laughing so freely. Normally she was distant. Sometimes, on the days when Ozai was away, she didn’t get out of bed and it was as if she was in a different world. It was on days like that, that their Mum cried a lot or didn’t react to anything and hardly said a word. The siblings would have to look after themselves, trying to find food that didn’t require cooking or sharp knives and then they’d have to get to school the long way so they didn’t have to cross the big road.

But today was a good day and the three of them could pretend that everything was happy and normal as they sat, relaxing in the summer sun.

o0o

Azula awoke suddenly at the sound of a sudden bang. She listened hard for a moment as the sound was followed by more loud clattering that seemed to echo through the walls. She swallowed and swung her feet out of bed, dragging her duvet after her. Azula quietly opened the door and tiptoed down the corridor towards Zuko’s room. She stood in front of his door, feeling as if something was tightening around her lungs. She silently opened his door. 

“Hey Azu. Did you hear it too?” Zuko said as she entered. She nodded. “I’m sure it’s nothing, okay?” 

“It might be burglars!” Azula squeaked. Zuko laughed quietly. 

“It won’t be burglars, Azula. Our house has lots of security. Cameras, you know, and a burglar alarm,” he whispered. Azula didn’t change her look of fear. “We can go and check in the study if you want? That’s where the sound came from. Then I can show you that there’s no burglar. Would you like that?” he suggested. 

“Yes please.” Azula squeaked. Zuko stood up and took Azula’s cold little hand, and they quietly walked down stairs towards the door on the far right: their Mum’s office. “You check first.” Azula pleaded. Zuko sighed and nodded. Even though he was fairly certain that it was nothing, he couldn’t help but feel weird, an odd feeling of anxiety welling up and choking the air inside his lungs. He opened the door and switched on the light. On the floor lay a discarded wooden chair, looking like it had been pushed to the ground. On the desk behind it lay a note, with the words; ‘To Zuko and Azula’ scrawled across it. And hanging from a wooden beam in the ceiling was Ursa, a rope around her neck. Zuko froze. His legs suddenly felt like lead as he saw from the corner of his eye Azula shove into the room behind him. 

“Mum?” she shouted. “Mummy!”

o0o

The sirens wailed, getting quieter and quieter until the sound drowned out all together. Azula sat next to Zuko, feeling numb. Zuko had cried for the past 20 minutes. She hadn’t. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, but she didn’t feel like crying. It was more of an empty sadness that consumed her, as she stared blankly at the road. They heard Ozai coming up behind them, and they both flinched as they turned around. 

“How could you.” Ozai said quietly. Zuko and Azula held their breath. “This is your fault. You drove her insane with your complaining and shouting and constant whining! and now look at what you’ve done. She’s dead because of you!”

“Wha-” Zuko began, but he was quickly silenced by Ozai cuffing him on the back of the head. 

“I DIDN’T ASK YOU TO SPEAK!” Ozai bellowed. “You killed her!”

“No, we didn’t!” Azula yelled tearily, standing up and not quite grasping the concept of suicide. “We’d never kill her!”

“Azula!” Zuko squeaked nervously. He didn't want to see both his mother and Azula die on the same day. 

“Fuck you,” Ozai spat, and he turned and left. 

o0o

_4 years later_

“Hey, dad? Can we have takeaway for dinner?” Zuko asked. 

“Yeah, whatever.” Ozai grumbled, gulping down the dregs of yet another beer bottle. Azula sighed from her place standing halfway through the door. When Ozai wasn’t physically or verbally abusing them, he was busy not giving a shit about his kids and drinking. There was lots of drinking. “Order it yourself.” Ozai said, standing up and walking towards the door.

“Or, you know, you could order it and show that you aren’t a neglectful crapsack.” Zuko muttered under his breath, almost silently. But clearly not quiet enough. 

“What was that, Zuko?” Ozai said suddenly. Zuko’s eyes widened. 

“It was nothing, I didn’t mean anything.. I was...I was just…” he stammered. Ozai was red in the face with anger. He marched over to Zuko and grabbed his son’s wrist in a bruising grip. Zuko grit his teeth as Ozai dragged him over to the stove. “Ow, ow! Let go of me!”

“This’ll teach you some fucking respect.” Ozai spat. He roughly turned the dial on the stove and smashed the left side of Zuko’s face onto the dancing flames. Zuko screamed out in pain as the fire attacked his eye, feeling like thousands of lightning bolts were striking him. Azula could only look on in horror, her brother’s scream ringing in her ears.  
She quietly slipped out of the room, sliding Ozai’s phone off the table and pocketing it as she left. She sprinted to the cupboard under the stairs, and contemplated calling an ambulance, but the sirens would make it too obvious that they were there and Ozai could just put on his act as a perfect father for the ambulance crew (and use his immense skill at bribery and brutality for getting the authorities to leave him alone after the incident). So she quickly dialed her uncle’s number, her hands shaking. 

“Iroh?” she stuttered.

“Azula?” came Iroh’s voice. 

“Please, come quickly. Zuko’s hurt and he needs to go to hospital. Just get him away from here, keep him safe.” Azula stammered, trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible. 

“I’ll be right there.” Iroh said, before hanging up. Azula swallowed back tears and ran back into the kitchen. Zuko was now lying on the floor, the left side of his face horribly blistered and burned. He was unconscious, but still breathing, thank god. 

Azula sat cross legged next to her brother. It had been half an hour, and Iroh still hadn’t arrived. She was terrified that Zuko would succumb to an infection, or that he’d die, and Azula couldn’t do anything about it. 

“Azula?” Zuko mumbled, blinking his right eye open, and wincing as he tried to open the other. 

“Close your eyes.” Azula ordered. Zuko did so. 

“It hurts.” he said. Azula nodded. 

“Well, yes. I’d be amazed if it didn’t.” she said. “Iroh will be here soon. He’ll take you to hospital, and then we can get out of here. Does that sound good?”

“You’ll come with us?” Zuko asked. 

“Yeah, of course I will,” Azula said. Zuko smiled. 

“Good.”

o0o

Iroh came. He left with Zuko, carrying his nephew’s limp body to the car. 12 hours went by, and Azula waited outside the house. But they didn’t come back. Another 6 hours, then a full day. And then another. But there was no sign of her brother or her uncle. She had the sickening thought that maybe Zuko didn’t make it. She had to check, because the thought that her brother, one of her only friends that she grew up with, was dead made it hard to breathe. Ozai had been upstairs when Iroh came and still hadn’t come back down, probably using all his contacts to make sure that a possible abuse charge wouldn’t be in his future.

o0o

“Okay Azula, when you go in, don’t make a scene, you hear me?” Ty Lee hissed. 

“Just go in, check for Zuko, then go out.” Mai added. 

“Right, got it.” Azula said. They walked into the hospital waiting room, and spotted a nurse at the desk at the front. The group marched over and Azula slammed her fist on the desk. 

“Where the hell is my brother?” she yelled. 

“Azula, what did we just say?” Mai sighed. Azula coughed awkwardly and then continued. 

“I mean; sorry, but could you please tell me where my brother is? His name is Zuko Gushiken, and he came in with his uncle with severe burns on the left side of his face. I’m his sister and these are my friends.” she said, adjusting her tone. The nurse raised his eyebrow and then sighed. 

“Zuko Gushiken was discharged early this morning. He left with his Uncle. And your brother’s okay, he’s been given pain meds and the burn will heal, though it will scar.” the nurse explained. “Now if you have nothing else, you should be on your way. We have people waiting.”

“Okay, thank you very much, sir.” Ty Lee said, as she grabbed Azula’s tightly clenched fist and pulled her outside, Mai following behind. 

Azula broke free of Ty Lee’s grasp and sprinted across the road, disregarding the cars that beeped as she ran in front of them. Her legs felt numb, and the only thing stopping her knees from buckling was the adrenaline and fear coursing through her veins. She shot down an alleyway and smashed into the wall at the dead-end. Her back slid down the wall as she curled up, hugging her arms around her stomach, which was aching with anxiety, dread and fear. Abandoned by her mum, abandoned by her dad, and now abandoned by her brother and Uncle. She heard footsteps behind her, and clamped her hands over her ears, and she squeezed her eyes shut, but Ty Lee’s voice still came through. 

“I don’t want your stupid ADVICE RIGHT NOW!” Azula yelled, breathing hard. “They… they left me,” she said, her voice breaking in the middle.

“Okay, okay, that’s fine. Breathe for me? Yep, that’s it,” Ty Lee said, nodding as Azula responded to her instructions. “Okay, just hear me out: maybe call Iroh?”. 

Azula’s erratic breathing started to even out. Although she wasn’t really thinking straight, she knew that this was a good idea, and she shakily took out Ozai’s phone that she had stolen from her pocket. She dialed Iroh’s number like she had done before. It rang. And rang. Then an automated message started to speak. 

“This number is out of service.” it said. Azula dropped the phone, and buried her head in her arms. Everything crashed on top of her at once.

o0o

Zuko opened his right eye wearily, and he heard a distant sounding beeping from his right ear. His brain wasn’t working properly, so it took him awhile to connect everything in his head. Beeping, machine, heart monitor, heart, medical, hospital-oh, right. He’s in a hospital. Now to figure out why that was. Deaf, blind, eye, painful eye, burn, fire, Ozai-oh yeah. Dad had hurt him really badly. He searched round with the eye that could actually open, and he set his eye on Iroh, who was sitting in the hospital chair beside him. 

“Uncle?” Zuko croaked. Iroh smiled. 

“I’m here, my nephew,” he said. Zuko sighed, then sat up quickly. 

“Azula!” he squeaked, then he started coughing, his vocal cords unused to speaking yet.

“Azula’s safe now, nephew. Go back to sleep. Ssh.” Iroh said. Zuko’s brain was still fuzzy from the medication, but he was always awake enough to argue. 

“But where is she?” he asked again. Iroh sighed. 

“She’s going to be fine, nephew.” Iroh said, thinking about how Ozai always seemed to praise Azula’s natural intelligence and athleticism while scorning Zuko’s compassion and empathy. He thought that she would be fine, maybe even thrive now that Ozai could focus on her. Azula never seemed to like him that much anyway and the financial strain of taking in two children with the Jasmine Dragon as his only income might cripple him. “You are the most important person to worry about right now.”

“And you’re sure that she’s completely safe?” Zuko asked. 

“She’s safe.” Iroh concluded. “Now sleep.”


	2. Is Azula Okay? No.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Enjoy reading!
> 
> TW for abuse.

The next day, Ozai finally came down stairs, having been holed up in his office since maiming Zuko, using his minifridge and en-suite for all his needs. Azula’s heart sank as he walked in, and she quickly looked down at the book she was reading, avoiding eye contact like her life depended on it. If Ozai was capable of doing that to Zuko, he was capable of doing it to her.

“Where’s Zuko?” Ozai said. Azula’s breath caught in her throat. 

“He’s gone.” she said shortly. 

“Where to?” Ozai questioned. 

“I don’t know.” Azula replied. 

“Is he with Iroh?” 

“Why would I tell you?” 

“Because I’m your father.”

“You’re a shitty father!” Azula shouted, her fear warping and changing into uncontrollable rage. How dare he treat her like that. How dare he hurt Zuko. How dare he.

“WHERE’S MY SON?!”

“IN A PLACE A THOUSAND TIMES BETTER THAN HERE!” 

“SHUT UP!” Ozai screamed, and he smashed Azula’s head down on the table, before marching from the room. Azula whimpered as blood poured from her nose, and she tried to stand up, still dazed and dizzy from the blow. She scrambled for a towel to staunch the bleeding, and it instantly filled up with red. 

o0o

One bloody towel and a full box of tissues later, the bleeding had stopped but her face was still throbbing and felt as if it was starting to swell. Azula swore as a knock came at the door and she remembered that Mai and Ty Lee were picking her up so they could walk into town together. 

“It’s open!” Azula called. She heard the front door open from the living room and Mai and Ty Lee walked in. 

“Hey Azula-” Ty Lee stopped instantly as her eyes roamed the pile of bloody tissues on the table. “Is that blood? And if so, where did it come from?” Azula turned around and even Mai gasped. 

“Don’t freak out.” Azula said, almost pleadingly. “It’s nothing.” Her face was still covered in dry blood, and her nose didn’t look like it usually did. 

“Right, okay, I’m not freaking out. Okay, no, that’s a lie, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?” Ty Lee whisper-shouted. 

“My dad and I had...a disagreement.” Azula said. 

“When have you ever agreed with anyone?” Mai said. 

“I agree with people all the ti-...okay, point taken. At least he didn’t do what he did to Zuko,” Azula mumbled. 

“Spirits, are you okay?” Ty Lee asked. Azula nodded. 

“...yes,” she said. 

“....You know that’s a lie,” Mai said. Azula rolled her eyes and slumped down on the sofa. 

“I just… I just want Zuko back.” she said. “I hate him for leaving me with Ozai, but I want him back.”

“I don’t think he had much part in the leaving of you, since he was...you know...hospitalised for a reason…” Ty Lee said. Azula shrugged. 

“Fair enough, I guess. But if I ever see my uncle again, I will murder him.” she hissed. “I’ll kill him so quickly he won’t even know he’s being killed.”

“Well, that’s a nice thought...I want pancakes, do you want to come with us to get them?” Mai said. 

“Yeah, sure.” Azula sighed. 

o0o

“Have you done your homework, Azula?” Ozai asked. Azula clenched her teeth and gave Ozai the middle finger from her pocket. 

“Not yet, father. I’ll do it now.” she said, trying to restrain herself. Ever since Zuko and Iroh left, Ozai had been nothing  
short of terrifying and Azula had reached a stage where she channeled all her fear into anger. It had been a month since her brother left, and now she just felt rage start to build up inside of her, converting all her terror into fury. Of course it still hurt to remind herself that her father had never loved her, but she usually just tried to tune it out as he punished her (because who needs healthy coping mechanisms when you have repression as an option?) Azula had always been more favoured than Zuko, and generally only felt her father’s wrath when he was drunk but now that he was gone, the pressure had been cranked up and she felt as if she were constantly in survival mode.

“Why haven’t you done it yet?” Ozai snarled. Azula exhaled hard and clenched her fists. 

“Well, father, I literally just got home from school, so unless you expected me to time travel, I think that that is a perfectly good excuse.” she said calmly, a polite but cold tone in her voice. Ozai narrowed his eyes. 

“Did you just talk back to me Azula?” he hissed, grabbing Azula by the collar of her school uniform and pulling her out of her seat. She barely strugged, knowing the futility of trying to break free from her father’s strong grip. 

“You can’t expect me to have finished my homework as soon as I enter the house. Are you stupid?” It was then that Azula knew that she had made a mistake. Ozai punched her in the face, but she had been expecting it, and she tensed up in anticipation for the blow and subsequent pain. She didn’t let herself react. 

“You need to do better!” he yelled. Azula was beyond caring about her father’s reaction at this point. If he killed her, then maybe he’d be doing her a favour. Ozai would never kill her, or hurt her too badly with his reputation and freedom on the line. Ozai growled and slammed Azula against the wall. She grunted a little and a small, sinister smile crept onto Ozai’s face, pleased that he had gotten a reaction.

“Just leave me alone!” Azula practically screamed, finally snapping at the sight of Ozai’s sadism in full force. 

“If you don’t shut up this second I will sew your mouth up.” Ozai snarled. 

“You don’t know how to sew.” Azula stated. With that, Ozai dragged Azula to the cupboard under the stairs and threw her in.   
“You want to talk back? You can talk back all you want from in there. See you in two days.” Ozai hissed.

“Dad?” Azula said frantically. This was new. This wasn’t supposed to happen, this wasn’t how you played the game. He was supposed to leave Azula groaning on the floor, and then storm off to his room. Not this. “Dad!”

“Good night.” Ozai said, and the door slammed, the click of a lock echoing. 

“No. No, no, no! DAD!” she screamed. “DAD!” She could feel the panic welling up inside her chest. “DAD!” She slumped against the door, chest heaving, eyes heavy. “Dad.” she croaked, before her knees buckled, and Ozai heard a muffled bang from inside the closet as Azula passed out because of fear, exhaustion and a lack of air from hyperventilating.   
This was not how it was supposed to be.

oOo

Two days later, Azula stumbled out of the closet, Ozai opening it roughly, anger in his eyes. 

“About time I came out of there.” Azula muttered, holding her stomach, which was growling with hunger. “I’m gonna go get some food and then go out because you sort of look like you’re going to kill me.” Azula mumbled. Ozai just stared at her coldly, before stomping upstairs. Azula stood there for a second, a little stunned. “I’m slightly fearing for my life.” she muttered under her breath before staggering into the kitchen for food.

oOo

Azula had been in her room for 4 days straight. Ozai had been on the warpath after a particularly bad meeting with his investors which resulted in Azula getting a black eye and a concussion when she had made just a little too much noise to be unnoticeable. Azula thought it safer to stay hidden in her bedroom while Ozai was still mad from the fight, only leaving during the night when her dad was blackout drunk to get food..   
Finally, Ozai left for a work trip, which would take about 3 days, and Azula could finally relax, or as much as she could relax. She wandered downstairs into the kitchen, and was faced with the dried up blood from her split lip and nosebleed still blotched on the floor. Ozai, the lazy shit, hadn’t been bothered to clean it up. Azula winced, remembering that Mai and Ty Lee were coming round later, and she instantly moved to start scrubbing at the stain. She heard a cough behind her. 

“Err...Azula? What are you doing?” Mai asked. Azula looked round. 

“Is ‘nothing’ an acceptable answer?” she asked. Mai and Ty Lee shook their heads. “Okay. I’m just cleaning up my idiot of a father’s mess from 4 days ago.”

“When you say your father’s mess…” Ty Lee started. 

“Fine yes, the mess from my veins, my blood.” Azula said. Ty Lee winced as Azula threw down the cloth and got up (more like stumbled) to her feet. Azula looked awful. Dark bags were clear under her eyes, and yellow bruising was obvious around her temple compared to her pale skin. She looked dead on her feet. 

“Are you okay there?” Ty lee asked tentatively. Azula nodded. 

“Yes, I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?” Azula asked. 

“Err..well..I mean you don’t...you…” Ty Lee stammered. 

“You look like a train wreck Azula. Have a shower and go to sleep.” Mai said. Azula raised her eyebrows. 

“I’ll have you know I am perfectly healthy.” Azula said, before losing her footing slightly and stumbling, catching herself on the wall. “But on an unrelated note I’m going to go and do exactly what you said. I’m sorry I can’t hang out today.” Azula left to go upstairs and Ty Lee turned to Mai. They exchanged worried glances and left the house; any good mood they had earlier was now gone. Ozai was a powerful man and both Zuko and Azula had warned them about him when they were younger. He had ties to almost every illegal operation in the area and was friends with some very important people. It would be suicide to tell the authorities about the abuse that Azula suffered at home - even their parents had told them not to interfere! All they could do was make sure that Azula was looking after herself as best as she could.

oOo


	3. Azula the Tech Nerd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I missed a day! Trigger warning for abuse again. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Azula sat on her window sill, staring out into the garden. She was certain that most people had normal, functioning families, that had an alive mum, an unabusive dad and present brother and uncle. Everything hurt. It was as if everything was weighing down her shoulders and she was threatening to shatter from the pressure. She had to do something, but given that she was 13 (an age she had just turned last week, but did Ozai remember? No, of course not) there wasn’t much that she could do. She was smart: she knew so, her teachers said so, and even Ozai had praised her quick wit before Zuko left. Although she knew that Ozai was doing some pretty illegal stuff, not including emotionally and physically abusing his daughter, she had no way of proving it. 

She got her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through the texts she had sent to Zuko. She sent one everyday, but all were left unread and unseen. She started to type.

Azula-sent at 9:43am  
Good morning, Zuko. I miss you.  
I think I'm in trouble. Dad won’t   
stop hurting me and I have   
no way of stopping him. I know  
you won’t answer. This number   
is probably out of service but if  
you see this, help me. 

She sighed and tucked her phone away back in her pocket, trying to blink away the tears threatening to spill. 

It was then that a distant memory slipped into the forefront of her brain.  
It was when she and Zuko had been small and had snuck into Ozai’s study in the days before they knew what the consequences of this transgression would be. Zuko pointed to the whole list of files on their Dad’s computer and told her that it was there that all the important information would be stored. 

Azula knew that with the scale that her father operated on, he must have a server with all the incriminating information she would need to get him into prison for a long time. 

oOo

Azula spent the next week shut up in her room, googling hacking skills, her photographic memory soaking the information like a sponge. She didn’t concentrate on school work at all, and she barely slept, watching countless videos, her search history filled to the brim with hacking techniques. 

On Sunday, Ozai finally left for a work trip, and Azula was prepared. She had 2 days max to get access to the files. It would be a long 2 days. She took out her phone and texted Zuko. 

Azula-sent at 11:02am  
I know you won’t read this, but  
in case you do, I’m going to do it  
now. Wish me luck. 

Of course there was no reply. She stuffed her phone back in her pocket and left for Ozai’s office. 

It took so long. Azula typed frantically but had to keep pausing to reference various resources she had learned from. Yes, she was a prodigy, but there was only so much you could do in a week. She had to go faster. Her heart was pounding, back aching from being intently hunched over the computer for so long, fear building in her chest. She was almost in, breaking through tortuous firewall after firewall, the only thing keeping her awake was adrenaline and Lucozade. 

1 hour left until Ozai was back. She was almost in.

Then she made a mistake. One wrong step and she had alerted her opposition of the fact that someone was cracking into their server. She had to work even faster as they tried to counteract her code. They almost had her but it wasn’t enough and she was in.

It was the fastest that she had ever typed in her life as she copied literally every file on the server at once and pasted them into an email. It was an anxious, nail-biting wait as the files loaded at a snail’s pace. 

And now all she needed to do was wait for them to upload. And hopefully escape her father’s wrath. He would have obviously been alerted to the fact that someone was trying to break into their system and with Azula’s new and barely mediocre skills, she was sure that they would have been able to trace her IP address. It was more than likely that Ozai already knew she was the culprit. 

It was now just a matter of waiting to see which was first: Ozai turning up or the files finishing uploading. Azula couldn’t escape until she knew the email was sent.

Ozai turned up first. She saw his car skid into the drive and she fumbled for her phone. Azula dialled 999.

“Hello, Emergency Service Operator. Which service do you require?”

“Err.. police please,” Azula said, fighting to keep herself from spiralling. 

“I'll connect you now.”

“Police Service. What’s the address of the emergency? Where are you?”

“The big house at the top of Daehangno Road,” Azula replied shakily.

“Can you tell me what exactly is happening?”

“I got into my Dad’s s-server. The files… the files are downloading but he’s a really bad man and I think he knows… I think he knows it was me. He’s just arrived and I think he’s going to kill me.” Azula struggled to get her words in the right order. Everything was going around so fast in her head that she felt nauseous just trying to keep up.  
There was a loud bang and Azula missed the call operator’s reply as Ozai barged into her room.

His eyes were filled with fiery anger, fists clenched by his sides as he stormed into the room, the door rattling on its hinges. Azula couldn’t run now. “Well, I guess this is the end.” she thought, practically in tears at this point: tired and scared. 

“Father-” Azula started, voice shaking. 

And then a beeping sound signalled that the emails were pasted into the email. She frantically pressed enter and then it was done. The email was sent.  
Ozai grabbed her by the shirt and slammed her against the wall. 

“You are not my daughter, I am not your father, so don’t call me as such. You have ruined my life, my reputation...” Ozai hissed in a way more threatening than if he had been shouting. “I know what you did, and you will not get away with any of it. If I kill you, so be it. At least I’ll be rid of you for good.” Ozai’s fist connected with Azula’s face with a loud thwack, and blood poured from Azula’s nose as she crumpled to the ground. 

“Dad, please…” Azula yelped. 

“YOU ARE NO CHILD OF MINE!” Ozai bellowed, and thousands of blows rained down on   
Azula. Her brain was spinning as blood pooled around her, from her nose and mouth, and her eyes began to close. The last thing she heard was sirens in the distance.

And then everything went black.

oOo

Azula opened her eyes, the bright light burning her retinas. She closed them again. The pungent smell of disinfectant met her nose, and she felt the soft bed sheets crumpled around her. She was in the hospital. 

She struggled to reopen her eyes, wincing at the pain it brought. She blinked rapidly and glanced around. She had no idea how badly injured she was and she was high on painkillers, so it was quite hard to tell. It didn’t help that her brain sort of felt like a lagging computer as well. She wanted to go back to sleep, but she was vulnerable when she wasn’t awake, and she fought the closing of her eyes hard, but soon the drugs took over her, and she drifted back to sleep. 

oOo

She wasn’t sure how long she had slept, but when she woke up, Mai and Ty Lee were sitting in the chairs next to her bed, chatting. She groaned slightly as she shifted . 

“Azu!” Ty Lee squealed. Azula winced. 

“My brain is burning, stop. But, good to see you too, Ty Lee.” she said. Mai gave Azula one of her rare smiles. 

“How are you feeling?” she asked. Azula shrugged. 

“I’ve...been better.” she said. Ty Lee laughed as a doctor came through the door, looking stern. 

“Ah, Miss Gushiken.” she said, and Azula narrowed her eyes. 

“Where’s my dad?” she said. The doctor held out a hand to signal to Azula to stop talking. 

“He was arrested for a large amount of offenses thanks to you. He has pleaded guilty and will be put away for a long time.” she explained. A wave of relief washed over Azula, and she visibly untensed, letting herself smile slightly. 

“So, am I going to live with Iroh and Zuko? My brother and uncle?” she said, hope seeping through her voice. The doctor sighed. 

“I’m really sorry, Miss Gushiken, but...there’s no trace of them. Social Services are searching but it looks like they’ve just disappeared. A social worker will be round to take you to a group home when you’re discharged.” she said. Azula’s smile vanished. 

“No.” she stated. “I am NOT going into care.”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to. There is nothing we can do, this is out of my hands. As I said, we’ll carry on searching but-”

“NO! I’m not going into care! I haven’t been beaten up by my father, locked in cupboards for days at a time and starved just for me not to be with Zuko again!” Azula yelled, chucking one of Mai’s school books at the doctor’s head. She ducked just in time and it clattered to the floor.

“Please, calm down…” the doctor attempted, but Azula threw another book at her head, and she was forced to leave. 

“Azula…” Mai started, both her and Ty Lee now standing up and edging closer to the door, not wanting to get hit by a flying book. 

“Go away!” Azula yelled, her voice now slightly croaky. 

“Azu, you need to calm down!” Ty Lee said. 

“I said GO AWAY!” Azula shouted hoarsely. 

“Azula…” Mai began again, but a dictionary came flying at her forehead. 

“Look up ‘go away’.” Azula said, her voice now softer, and weaker. Mai and Ty Lee glanced at each other sadly, before nodding and leaving, not particularly fond of the idea of having a thesaurus in their faces. 

Azula had to stay overnight so that they could make sure that there were no complications, but she’d be discharged tomorrow if she was well enough. She was glad that Ozai was in prison of course; he had been a terrible father, if you could even call him that, and Azula had a broken arm, a concussion and plenty of cuts and bruises to show for it. 

And Zuko was nowhere to be found. She wanted to live with him again with Iroh looking after them. She always thought that Ozai did it because she deserved it. It was always her fault. Well, now she didn’t think that her dad was so perfect. But now she was rid of him. For good.


	4. Tracy Beaker 2: Electric Boogaloo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy this new chapter! (I'm trying to post every week)

The next morning, Azula was allowed to leave as soon as the doctor came to sign her off. She felt bad for shouting at Mai and Ty Lee yesterday and would apologise to them at school on Monday but for now, she was content stewing in her own misery (well, not very content).   
The doctor was due to come round at about 9:00 so she was surprised when a knock came at the door half an hour early. A man, probably in his late 30s, came in. He was tall, with dark brown hair pulled into a tight topknot and a beard speckled with grey. 

“Hello, Azula. My name is Piandao and I’m a social worker. I’m due to take you to a group home after you’re let out of here,” he said in a low and gravelly voice. Azula just nodded, really not in the mood for talking. “How about we get to know each other?” he said after a long pause.

“Okay,” Azula replied softly.

“Great. I’m going to ask you a question and then you can ask me a question back. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” Azula nodded again. “Good. I’ll start. How old are you?”

“Don’t you know that already if you’re my social worker?”

“Yes, but I’d rather get to know you in person and I thought it would be easier if we started off simple.”

“Okay. I’m 13.” Piandao nodded encouragingly. “How long have you been a social worker?”

“About 15 years now.” He thought for a moment. “What do you like to do in your spare time?”

“I do karate,” Azula said with the highest amount of enthusiasm Piandao had seen from her yet.

“I’m afraid that you won’t be able to continue the karate classes you participate in currently because they’ll be too expensive-”

“What?” Azula half shouted, distress taking over her face.

“Don’t worry, Azula. There are plenty of cheaper options that will be available. You might even be able to try something new.” He watched as Azula slowly untensed. “You haven’t asked me a question yet.”

“Err… what do you do in your spare time?”

“I do Bojutsu.”

“Really?” Azula’s face lit up. “I’ve always wanted to have a go! Can you tell me about it?”

“Of course,” Piandao replied and they spent the rest of the time talking about various martial arts before the Doctor came round to sign Azula off.

O0o

Piandao dropped Azula off at the group home after going to her old home to pick up some clothes, books and other items she might need. It all fitted into a single bin bag and a duffle bag which was quite depressing to look out. 

Once she arrived, she was given the tour and introduced to some of the staff before being shown to her room.

“Hey Azula! I’m Hiro.” said the boy who she shared a room with. “Welcome!”

“No.” Azula stated. Hiro raised an eyebrow. 

“What do you mean?” Hiro asked. Azula fixed him with a hard stare.

“No, go away and shut up.” she said. Hiro’s eyes widened and he looked at his feet. 

“Sorry.” he said. Azula sighed. 

“If I throw a stick, will you leave?” she asked. Hiro crossed his arms. 

“This was my bedroom first!” he squeaked.

“Leave me alone!” Azula exclaimed harshly. Hiro gave Azula the middle finger.

“Fuck you.” he hissed before leaving the room to go down stairs. 

“Fuck you too!” Azula called as he walked out. 

o0o

Azula almost threw up her food. It was disgusting, and there was barely any on her plate. The girl next to her was looking at it longingly. She raised an eyebrow.

“Want it?” Azula asked and the girl nodded timidly. Azula blinked at the girl in slight confusion before shoving over the plate, and the girl tucked in ravenously. Azula raised her eyebrows and looked down at her hands, one of which still concealed in a cast. The girl pushed the now-empty plate back over to Azula and smiled.

“Thanks.” the girl muttered. She held out her hand. “I’m Ahnjong.” Azula looked at Ahnjong’s hand but didn’t shake it, opting for a nod instead. 

“Azula.” she said shortly. “You eat that stuff?”

“I didn’t have lunch or breakfast. Pak ate all the cereal, and I didn’t have enough money to buy lunch.” Ahnjong explained. 

“Who’s Pak?” Azula asked. Ahnjong pointed at a boy across the table, who was flinging peas at another boy, and pretending he didn’t do anything.

“Him.” Ahnjong said. “He’s a dickhead.”

“Yeah, he looks like one.” Azula said. Pak glanced over from whatever crap he was doing and spotted Ahnjong and Azula looking at him. He smirked and stood up, walking over to the pair. 

“Why you staring at me?” he asked cockily. “I know I’m good looking, but you don’t need to watch me all the time.”

“I’ve seen potatoes more attractive than you.” Azula said, standing up. They were roughly the same height but Pak remained confident. 

“You can just ask me out-you don’t have to be embarrassed.” he sneered. Azula raised an eyebrow. 

“The chance of that happening is even lower than your IQ.” she said. “You’re pretty confident for somebody with a face like yours.”

“Wanna fight, bitch?” Pak spat. Azula laughed. 

“Isn’t it rather dangerous to use one’s entire vocabulary in a single sentence? I’d fight you, but I don’t want to be arrested for provoked assault.” she said. 

“Azula, seriously, just stop.” Ahnjong said from behind her, voice timid. Azula ignored her and continued. 

“You really want to fight me? No offense, but you’re just a girl. I’m the strongest guy in my class.” Pak scoffed. 

“You’re less a guy and more a loose collection of personality flaws, and also, no. I think I already established that I don’t want to fight you.” Azula responded calmly. 

“Kill yourself.” Pak spat. 

“If I wanted to kill myself I’d climb your ego and jump down to your IQ.” Azula replied. Pak finally snapped, and aimed a punch towards Azula’s face, but Azula caught his fist in her unbroken arm and twisted his arm behind his back. The momentum smashed him against the wall. “Tread very carefully unless you want this to happen again.” Azula dropped him and left. 

oOo

Hiro had left his side of the room a complete mess again, his dirty clothes spilling over onto Azula’s half. Azula liked to keep things tidy with military precision. Having a mess made a familiar feeling of anxiety brew in her chest which wasn’t pleasant to say the least.   
Azula wrinkled her nose and kicked it back, before grabbing a roll of masking tape and sticking a line down the middle of the room on the carpet. She smirked as she cut the tape. Hiro would kill her when he got back from wherever he was.

Hiro didn’t kill her, having been cowed by her aggressive temper instead. All's well that ends well.  
oOo

“I’m going to have to suspend you for a week, and if we see any more of this behaviour from you, you can expect worse consequences.” Mr Adachi said, no trace of a smile present on his face. “You’re a very bright child and I hate to punish you but this behaviour is unacceptable. I know that you’re going through a very hard time right now but you need to buck-up and get your act together.”

Azula looked at her feet, pretending to feel ashamed. It was the third fight she had got into this week, and while the others only escalated to verbal abuse being tossed to the opponent, this one had gotten physical, and, although Azula got away relatively injury free, the other had a black eye and a bloody nose. Azula wasn’t necessarily proud of what she had done, but the other kid 100% deserved it. Some people at the school had found out about her father being arrested and she was now the victim of a lot of derision from her peers. 

Ozai had been arrested for a whole list of offences, some of which even Azula didn’t believe her father was capable of. Word had spread around town and Ozai was now one of the most hated figures in their district of the capital. It turned out that he had been stealing money that was supposed to go to various charities and social programs and, unfortunately, a lot of the abuse was aimed at Azula. Their favourite comments centred around ‘like father, like daughter’ which never failed to rile Azula up.

“Sorry sir.” she said, just a small hint of sarcasm in her voice. She picked up her rucksack and exited the building. 

oOo

“Aren’t you coming into school today, Azula?” Ty Lee asked over the phone. Azula huffed. 

“I got suspended. I thought you already knew that.” she said. Ty Lee sighed. 

“What did you do this time?” she said. Azula looked mildly offended.

“Hey! Who says it’s my fault?” she shot back. 

“Because last week you almost got kicked out of maths class for throwing safety scissors at the teacher.” Ty Lee said. “Most of the time, it’s your fault.”

“Okay, point taken, but this kid deserved it. He cut in the line, and then he started being a prick - saying shit about me being like my dad - when I told him to fuck off to the back of the line. In my defense, he punched me first, and then I...continued the fight.” Azula explained. Ty Lee laughed. 

“For someone who learned to hack in one week, you’re an idiot sometimes, Azula.” she said. 

“I need to go. Pak’s coming and I don’t want to be stabbed.” Azula said, hearing heavy footsteps coming towards her door.

“Okay, bye!” Ty Lee said. Azula hung up and lay back down on her bed. No school for a week was good; less fights, less arguments with teachers, but it also meant intense boredom. She ran a hand across her face and sighed. This was going to be a long week.


	5. Panic! At the Everywhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy reading!

“Hey! Dickhead!” Jayesh yelled from behind Azula. Azula froze for a second, then turned. 

“Jayesh, your insults are getting old. Be creative.” she smirked. Jayesh walked towards her threateningly, but Azula didn’t move, and just continued smiling at him slightly patronisingly. 

“Last week, my little brother came home with a black eye. You did it.” Jayesh growled. Azula nodded. 

“Well, tell your little brother to stop being such a prick.” she said. 

“You wanna fight? You wanna fight?” Jayesh said confidently. 

“Eh, I’d prefer a battle of the wits, but you appear to be unarmed.” Azula said. Jayesh laughed coldly. 

“You think you’re so smart?” he sneered. 

“Yes.” Azula said simply, “Because I am.” Ty Lee came running over from the science block. 

“Azula, whatever you’re doing, stop.”

“I’m not doing anything.” Azula said. “This idiot just came up to me and started trying to fight me.”

“You beat up my brother!” Jayesh argued. Azula shrugged. 

“The details are not important. In fact, this pointless argument isn’t important either, soo…” Azula started to leave, but Jayesh grabbed her shoulder. 

Everything spun around her. She suddenly felt her father’s heavy hand gripping her shoulder tightly. Years worth of pain echoed in her mind. Azula flinched violently and spun around, her fist connecting hard with Jayesh’s face. He stumbled and Ty Lee glared at her. Azula looked at her with a slight hint of panic in her eyes. “Reflexes.” she breathed slowly, trying to settle her pounding heart rate. Ty Lee’s eyes widened with realisation. Jayesh stumbled back to his feet and wiped the blood from his nose. 

“So you do want to fight?” he hissed. Azula stepped backwards, easily dodging his weak blow. 

“Well, want is a strong word. I’d rather be watching TV right now instead of dealing with your bullshit, but-” Azula started, shaking off her earlier panic but she was cut off by a blow to the face that she wasn’t completely expecting. The element of surprise made her stumble, and she glared at Jayesh. “It looks like I’m going to have to fight.” Ty Lee pulled Azula back by the arm. 

“No, stop. Seriously.” Ty Lee demanded. Azula rolled her eyes and turned back to Jayesh. 

“As fun as this was, I’m going to have to leave now.” she said sarcastically, but it didn’t look like Jayesh would accept her excuse. He growled and barreled unto Azula, knocking her over. She landed with an ominous crunch on her shoulder, but she didn’t seem to care as she pushed Jayesh off of her and hooked her foot around his ankle. With one pull, he was down and pinned, Azula the winner. “Now, fuck off.” she hissed letting him go, and Jayesh quickly scrammed. Azula stood up, her arm feeling weird. 

“Azula, are you by any chance double jointed in your shoulder?” Ty Lee said with concern. Azula raised an eyebrow.

“What? No.” she said. 

“So your shoulder is very much dislocated.” Ty Lee said. Azula looked at her arm. 

“Well that explains why it hurts.”

oOo

“You got into another fight?” Piandao asked, looking pointedly at the sling around Azula’s neck. Azula looked at her feet. 

“...Maybe.” she muttered. Piandao nodded. 

“What was the fight about?” he asked. 

“...Another fight.” Azula replied awkwardly. Piandao raised his eyebrows. 

“Okay.” he said seriously but with kindness in his tone. “Azula, I think you need an outlet for all this built up anger. It’s getting to the point that it’s a problem. I understand that you’re hurting and you are dealing with everything that has happened very admirably but all this aggressive energy is really bad for you.”

“Well, what’s your plan? Are you suddenly going to make me calm down? I hate to break it to you, but that’s not going to happen.” Azula snapped. Piandao held out a hand for Azula to stop before he continued. 

“When I first met you, I told you about Bojutsu, and you expressed an interest. There’s a martial arts place near here that’s free for kids like you. I think it could really help you. I can take you once your shoulder has healed up.” Piandao explained. Azula’s face lit up. 

“Seriously?” she asked. Piandao nodded with a smile. “I’d like that. Thanks.”

oOo

Azula stared, wide-eyed with awe. People were sparring, staffs in hand and Azula grinned. 

“This is awesome.” she beamed and Piandao nodded. 

“I can teach you some basic moves to start off with, but since you already did karate, you will most likely get the hang of it quickly.” he said. Azula nodded. 

Azula enjoyed Bojutsu a little too much. Piandao knew that the fight would be good for getting anger out, and she might be part of fewer fights, but he also knew that if she were to get into a fight, she might end up accidentally really injuring somebody with her new skills. As they left the building, Piandao expressed his concerns. 

“I think there might be a better way for you to let out your anger without the risk of you becoming a murderer.” he said. Azula pouted. 

“But I enjoyed that. I won’t kill anyone, I promise.” she argued.

“The bar is very low. It’s just basic human decency to not kill people.” Piandao responded. There were a couple seconds of silence as he thought, and then he spoke again. “I’ll make you a deal. Just try out this other idea of mine and then we can come back here, okay? And you can do both if you like the other one.” Azula thought for a second and then reluctantly nodded. 

“Deal.” she sighed. Piandao smiled. 

“Great. Come with me then.” he said. 

oOo

“Drumming. That’s your plan?” Azula said sceptically, as she stared quizzically at the drum kit in the run-down music centre near the group home. “I think I prefer hitting people around the head with sticks.”

“Well instead of hitting people, you can hit drums. I promise you that you’ll like it.” Piandao said. Azula sighed.

“Well how am I meant to learn?” she asked, walking towards the drum kit. The room in the music school was spacious, various instruments lining the walls, a piano and said drum kit taking pride of place at the front. 

“You have YouTube, don’t you?” Piandao asked. 

“Yeah, but that won’t do a very good job of teaching me.” Azula said. 

“Well, do you want a teacher?” Piandao asked, knowing full well that Azula had the social skills of a pineapple, and that she hated meeting new people because of it. Azula scowled, aware of Piandao’s thought process. It was also probably because of cost as well but she didn’t want to get Piandao started on another rant about how the foster system lacks investment from the government. She already knows that from experiencing it. 

“Fine. I’ll try to learn through YouTube.” she sneered. “But I won’t like it.”

oOo

Piandao came back about an hour later to see Azula playing a simple drum beat. And she was playing well. He smiled and sat down on one of the plastic chairs at the side of the room. 

“Having fun?” Azula’s head snapped up, obviously only just realising that he was there. “Sorry Azula, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said apologetically, internally berating himself for sneaking up on a child who only relatively recently got out of an abusive home.

Azula took a couple of breaths before replying. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not often that I admit that I’m wrong, since I’m usually never wrong, but yes. This is fun.”. Piandao nodded. 

“You should probably be getting back to the home now, but you can come back here any day of the week. There’s a number of practice rooms you can use if you want a little more privacy than this,” he said. Azula nodded and smiled. 

“Thanks, Piandao.”


End file.
